|
REBUILDING LIVES |
 |
The desert State of Rajasthan |
The eye catches only endless stretches of desert sand that yields close to nothing. Yet, almost eighty per cent people depend on cultivation for a livelihood in the most arid parts of the desert State of Rajasthan. When their precious piece of land gives them nothing, the people of Barmer district take up manual labour. If there is not enough work on the back-roads of this sandy stretch, male members in a family head to far off districts for a pittance that accounts for daily wages. So, when the 2006 floods ravaged everything in its path, it left nothing for the people to fall back on. Understanding this deprived socio-economic situation, SEEDS took into consideration the various existing ground realities of the communities they intended to support. |
|
Rebuilding three hundred houses was only one element of the Barmer Aashray Yojna (BAY). The project enabled a parallel mission of rebuilding lives and livelihoods of the beneficiaries.Apart from initiating communities to make informed choices for themselves, SEEDS also provided training for those already engaged in masonry.
The training helped the community become more hands on in the project. Twenty three masons (mostly from Aadarsh Basti) were trained in safe construction practices – flood and earthquake-resistant houses. Following the training, most of the houses were built by these twenty three masons with a little help from SEEDS engineers.
There was no one more proud of this fact than Sadhula Ram – one of the twenty three masons and beneficiary from Aadarsh Basti. Thirty five year old Sadhula Ram has not had the privilege of schooling or professional training of any sort. Sadhula Ram took up any menial labour job that came his way. Most jobs that he took up were at construction sites.With every additional job, Sadhula Ram picked up on the basics of masonry (and lesser on wages) with no formal lessons or guidance When SEEDS first surveyed Aadarsh Basti, Sadhula Ram was struggling to survive and the floods only made his situation worse.
A single father and widower he had to also fend for his three children .His wife passed away two years ago. His living situation was going from bad to worse. The SEEDS masonry training helped Sadhula Ram get back on track and lay the foundation for a better tomorrow. He not only absorbed the training in its entirety, Sadhula Ram was able to gain the respect and trust of his neighbours that they were all too willing to make him the contractor-cum-supervisor of the project in Aadarsh Basti. As every other mason, Sadhula Ram also took home one hundred and twenty rupees (about 3 USD) for a day’s work. This was much more than he previously made in a month.
This also brought him into the mainstream because Sadhula Ram got official recognition as a skilled mason. With little help from SEEDS, he also opened a bank account. |
|
|